Out-of-Universe Information

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Alvin the Treacherous (a.k.a. Alvin the Poor-but-Honest-Farmer, His Most Mighty Murderousness Alvin the Treacherous, Great High Chieftain of the Outcast Tribe, Thin Prefect of Rome, Alphonse the Talented but Emotional French Chef or Terrific Al) is Hiccup's arch-nemesis. He has been an enemy of Berk in general and Hiccup in particular ever since How to Be a Pirate. His last appearance was How to Fight a Dragon's Fury. Though appearing in the television series, his role is not nearly as prominent as in the books.

Contents

Biography

Early Life

Alvin was born Heir to the Outcast Tribe, destined to inherit the role of Chief from his father, Algarick Ogglebert. His mother Excellinor was determined to help her son become the King of the Wilderwest, and taught him the Prophecy about the next King needing to possess ten Lost Things in order to be told the secret of the Dragon Jewel. UG the Uglithug realized Excellinor's attempts to restore the Kingdom of the Wilderwest, much to his horror as it would mean the loss of much of his land. He had her locked away in the Woods That Howled on Berserk, but Alvin had already begun his search for the Lost Things.

Four years after his mother's arrest, Alvin managed to locate one of the Lost Things, a ruby heart's stone, which was possessed by a prisoner of the Lava-Louts, the famous Hero Humungously Hotshot. Alvin got a job as a jail guard under the name of Terrific Al, and 'befriended' Humungous, learning that he had been captured on a mission for his Lover, Valhallarama. Al promised to deliver the stone to her as a message to come rescue him. However, Alvin had no intention on keeping his promise. When he found Valhallarama, he told her that Humungous had been killed by the Lava-Louts, all the while keeping the stone to himself.

Four years later, he heard a rumor that a Murderous girl named Termagent had found the coffin of Grimbeard the Ghastly, inside which was rumored to be the Dragon Jewel, another Lost Thing. Alvin disguised himself as a poor farmer, marrying Termagent in an attempt to learn the location of the grave. She eventually told him it was on Hero's End, but Alvin discovered that there was no grave, and when attempting to open the coffin lost his hand due to a booby-trap. Upon disabling the trap, he found a map and riddle leading to Grimbeard the Ghastly's lost Treasure. After Termagent healed his arm and he'd replaced his hand with an iron hook, he gave her a lobster-claw necklace he'd found in the coffin as a token of his 'love' and faked his own death at sea, to continue his pursuit of the Lost Things. He vowed vengeance on Grimbeard for taking his hand by killing his Heir.

After ten more years of searching, though, Alvin still only possessed one Thing. He decided to temporarily abandon the search and find Grimbeard's lost Treasure. Having no intention to endanger the lives of his Outcast brethren in the hunt, he asked the help of Mogadon the Meathead in finding the Treasure, but Mogadon disbelieved his story and threw him into the sea with the map and riddle inside Grimbeard's coffin.

The coffin was found by the neighboring Hooligan Tribe, which Grimbeard had originally belonged to, and, under the disguise of a Poor-but-Honest Farmer, Alvin presented his findings to their Chief Stoick the Vast, ironically now the husband of Valhallarama. His son Hiccup deciphered the riddle to mean that the Treasure was located on the dangerous Isle of Skullions, and a Quest to find the Treasure was organized. Alvin secretly contacted his Outcasts and told them to be ready to intercept the ship carrying the Treasure as it returned to Berk.

The Quest was successful, and the Treasure was found, along with Grimbeard's sword the Stormblade. However, the Hooligan ship transporting the Treasure was ambushed by Alvin's Outcasts, and Alvin revealed himself as the leader of the Outcasts, planning to enslave the Hooligans and take the Treasure. However, the Hooligans managed to out-battle the Outcasts, and the ship caught fire in the process. Alvin went down with the burning ship as he tried to save the Treasure, along with Hiccup, and his friend Fishlegs and toothless dragon Toothless. They managed to survive in an underwater Cavern, inside which they found Grimbeard's true, vast Treasure. Realizing he had what he needed, Alvin then planned to kill Hiccup to avenge his hand, but before he could Grimbeard's last booby-trap revealed itself: a Mighty Monstrous Strangulator that swallowed Alvin whole.

Inside the Monster's stomach, Alvin lost all of his hair, and he managed to cut himself out days later only to find that the Beast was dead and Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Toothless were gone. He managed to spend three months travelling out of the Cavern via the Caliban Caves and stole a ship to the Outcast Lands. However, he was shunned due to his new lack of hair, and was forced to get a job as a Roman prefect.

Thirsty for vengeance and Treasure, Alvin planned with the Roman Consul to capture all the dragons of the Inner Isles by pitting the Hooligans and the Bog-Burglars against each other. He also secretly hoped to take Grimbeard's Treasure by using a Dragon Army to swim down and take the gold. The Romans built a great fortress on the Island of Sinister and managed to capture the Bog-Burglar Heir under the disguise as Hooligans. One day, a Roman Ship was boarded by Hiccup and Fishlegs, resulting in the release of all the captive dragons they were carrying. Alvin managed to capture their dragon Toothless and half of Hiccup's notebook, which he realized was a Dragonese translator: just what he needed for his Dragon Army.

Hiccup and Fishlegs were soon captured, to ensure a Blood Feud between the Hooligans and Bog-Burglars. Alvin revealed himself and his plans to the two Hooligans, stealing the other half of Hiccup's Dragonese book and booby-trapping it with a Venomous Vorpent. The Consul planned to execute them in a Gladiatorial show, which was quickly changed to a Sea-Battle against Sharkworms due to sudden rainstorms.

Midway through the show, however, Hiccup flew into the air and revealed himself as the god Thor, demanding that the Romans leave the Barbaric Archipelago, the Consul's shield, and his book. When giving Hiccup his book, though, Alvin realized it was an illusion; Hiccup was flying due to the assistance of millions of microscopic dragons. Hiccup then set the Sharkworms on the crowd, and they fled from the fortress and the Archipelago. Alvin chased down Hiccup and his friends, who were escaping on a hot-air balloon, but fell from the balloon into a sea of Sharkworms. He lost his eye and his leg to the beasts, but managed to hide inside a Sharkworm corpse to escape the frenzy.

He spent the coldest winter in a century practicing his swordfighting in the ruins of Sinister, before hearing that the Volcano on Lava-Lout Island would soon erupt due to the absence of the Fire-Stone and hatch thousands of Exterminator Eggs. He quickly returned to his old job as a jail guard, informing his old friend Humungous that his Lover had abandoned him. Soon, the Lava-Louts began evacuating the island as the volcano prepared to erupt. As payment for delivering the message, Humungous promised to bring Alvin the mysterious Fire-Stone and to kill Hiccup, whom he believed to be an evil child. Alvin knew that the Fire-Stone would control the Exterminators, so possessing the Stone would give him control of the Exterminators--and the Archipelago.

On the day of the Volcano's eruption, Hiccup, Fishlegs, Toothless, and the Bog-Burglar Heir Camicazi tried to return the Fire-Stone to the volcano to prevent its eruption, only to be ambushed by Alvin and an Exterminator he'd trained. Alvin managed to defeat them all, but before he could force Hiccup to reveal the location of the Stone he was shot by Humungous, who had learned of Alvin's lies and treachery. Alvin engaged Humungous in combat with his Exterminator, but was losing badly. He suddenly saw Hiccup attempting to return the Stone and retreated from the fight on his Exterminator, snatching the Stone away from Hiccup and allowing the Volcano to erupt.

As the lava was released, thousands of Exterminators were hatched. Alvin ordered them to attack Hiccup, and they gladly obliged. Before Hiccup could be devoured, though, Toothless stole the Stone from Alvin and dropped it into the lava, unleashing the newborn, massive Fire-Dragon trapped inside. The Fire-Dragon swallowed all of the Exterminators and Alvin with them. Alvin's nose was melted, but before he could melt himself he slashed open the Exterminator he was riding, releasing the laughing gas inside. He floated out of the volcano in a bubble of gas, and was shot down by a Berserk arrow, landing on and crushing the Chief Chef.

He quickly got a job as a French chef named Alphonse, and one year later Hiccup and Fishlegs were captured by the Berserks as offerings to the great Beast that lived in the Woods. Alvin revealed himself to Hiccup in the middle of the night, preparing to strangle him to death. Hiccup, however, asked Alvin to let him live long enough to help them both escape, along with his friend Camicazi who had been captured earlier. Alvin pretended to go along with the plan, only to abandon Hiccup in an old prison built into a tree trunk to die. He had no idea that the prison also contained his own mother, still locked away.

During the Dead-of-Night Ceremony, in which the Beast was to be fed human sacrifices, Alvin was stunned to find Hiccup back in his old cell as a sacrifice. He dismissed it, however, and lowered him down in the middle of the ceremony for the Beast to devour. Afterwards, he prepared to feed Fishlegs to the Beast next, but Hiccup flew out of the forest into the sky, on the back of the Beast, which he had tamed. After demanding the release of all the Berserks' prisoners, the Beast betrayed Hiccup and set fire to the forest, dropping him onto one of the Berserks' rope bridges to burn. Before Hiccup could get off the bridge, however, Alvin confronted him, preferring his own death to allowing Hiccup to live.

Before he could kill Hiccup, though, he was interrupted by his own mother, who had been released with the other prisoners. She yelled that if Hiccup fell into the fire, Alvin would lose one of the Lost Things, the second-best sword, which was in Hiccup's possession. In the confusion, Hiccup managed to escape on his Windwalker, and Alvin and his mother Excellinor fell into the burning forest, landing in the Berserk lake.

Over the next year, Alvin filled in his mother on all she had missed, and he re-established his role of Chief of the Outcast Tribe. His mother also demanded for Flashburn the Flashmaster to give Alvin swordfighting lessons, and Alvin vastly improved. Around the time of the New Year's Celebrations at Flashburn's school, massive dragon attacks became more and more common. Before the Viking Tribes could arrive, Excellinor sent Flashburn's Warriors away and forced him to look inside the ice tunnels under the school for the Lost Crown of the Wilderwest, another Lost Thing. When the Vikings arrived, Excellinor told them that the recently freed Beast, also known as the dragon Furious, was leading a massive dragon rebellion and that the Vikings needed a King to save them. The Vikings agreed to elect whoever won the annual swordfighting competition their new leader.

Alvin spent the next three weeks practicing his swordfighting hard. Despite his mother's help in getting rid of anyone that could give him real competition in the event, Hiccup was still in the competition when it came time. Alvin came in third place, much to his dismay, and Hiccup won the tournament. Hiccup then revealed that he actually had nine of the Lost Things already, apart from the Dragon Jewel, gaining the support of the Vikings.

However, Excellinor wasn't done yet. She tricked Hiccup's cousin Snotlout into revealing Hiccup's secret Slavemark, a Mark that meant banishment and life as a slave. She also revealed to the crowd that Stoick the Vast had broken sacred law by not leaving Hiccup to die as a baby. Both Hiccup and Stoick were disqualified, and Alvin took the role of King, as well as all nine of Hiccup's Things.

As Alvin was announcing his new plans to crush the dragon rebellion, Furious himself attacked the school, and hundreds of Vikings were killed. Hiccup managed to draw away the rebellion by getting them to pursue him, and he disappeared. Alvin took charge, motivating the Vikings to build huge new weapons to crush the dragons and naming Snotlout the new Hooligan Chief. However, he soon realized that the map to the last Thing, the Dragon Jewel, had actually been stolen by Hiccup, and he declared Hiccup a criminal to be killed on sight.

Over the next year, the dragon rebels made steady progress, winning island after island in long battles. Alvin's work was made difficult by Hiccup, who as a fugitive was releasing dragons from Alvin's traps. In the winter, Alvin asked the Hero Valhallarama to hunt down the Outcast who was destroying any hope of success against the rebellion. Sure enough, Valhallarama returned with Hiccup's map to the Jewel, but not before Alvin shot down her dragon anonymously.

The map lead to Prison Darkheart, the massive amber mining colony. Over the next few weeks, Alvin and his mother led the Vikings in the hunt through the Amber Sands, falsely promising the slaves freedom in return for the Jewel, but they were unsuccessful. One day, a slave named the Hairy Scary Librarian found Hiccup's helmet, and Alvin realized that Hiccup must have snuck into the prison. He called a Grand Meeting of slaves and prepared to execute Snotlout unless Hiccup revealed himself. Sure enough, an insignificant slave gave humself up as an undercover Hiccup.

The witch planned to use Hiccup to find the Jewel, but Hiccup miraculously disappeared midway through his search, taking the map with him. That night, Alvin planned to execute several slaves to release some anger, but before the ceremony could begin Valhallarama returned, with Hiccup and the Jewel. The Vikings were overjoyed, but Valhallarama explained to them that Alvin would use the Jewel to destroy the dragons, whereas Hiccup had plans for a much more peaceful future. By giving herself the Slavemark and declaring it now the Dragonmark, thousands of slaves joined Hiccup's side.

The Alvinsmen were enraged and a massive battle ensued against the Dragonmarkers. In all the chaos, the dragon rebellion finally managed to destroy the prison. As Alvin was evacuating, Hiccup tried to rescue his dragon Toothless, another Lost Thing, from Alvin. Hiccup succeeded, but Alvin stole the Jewel in the process.

Over the next year, the dragon rebels conquered every island except the Murderous Islands in the west. Alvin was obsessed with finding the Dragonmarkers' hideout so he could crush them and Hiccup. The witch made a plan with Snotlout, who wanted to join the Alvinsmen, to find Hiccup and trick him into sneaking into the hideout, only to be ambushed by the Alvinsmen. The plan worked and Alvin stole Toothless, the last Lost Thing, from Hiccup. All they needed now was to destroy the Dragonmarkers.

During a torture sequence, however, Hiccup managed to escape the Alvinsmen, and the Dragonmarkers appeared to launch a massive Stealth Dragon assault--though it was actually just one Deadly Shadow. After Alvin won the battle, he realized that Hiccup had stolen the ship containing the Lost Things and was sailing across Wrecker's Bay with them. As he sent out an army of Bullguards to destroy him, Hiccup appeared to fly out to them on the back of his Windwalker, and was shot down by an Alvinsman. The Lost Things were retrieved, and Alvin and the witch prepared for Alvin's coronation.

On the island of Tomorrow, the Druid Guardians declared all the Lost Things to be real and that Alvin was ready to learn the secret of the Jewel, much to the dismay of the Dragonmarkers. However, the ceremony was interrupted by Hiccup, who claimed rights to the Throne. Unable to decide, the Druid asked the dragon Guardians which man was the rightful King, and they said it was Hiccup. Hiccup was crowned King, and the secret of the Jewel was revealed.

Hiccup then prepared to meet Furious with the Jewel to force him to call off the Rebellion. However, his dragon Wodensfang suddenly realized the Jewel he had was a fake copy. Hiccup tried to reason with Furious anyways, but was easily defeated, much to Alvin's excitement. Before Hiccup could be killed, he revealed that the real Dragon Jewel was inside a lobster necklace that he possessed. To his horror, Alvin realized it was the same necklace he had found in Grimbeard's coffin, and he had accidently given away the Jewel fifteen years ago.

Hiccup refused to use the Jewel and tried to bargain with Furious. However, Alvin and the witch stole a Stealth Dragon, which they used to steal the Jewel from Furious. Alvin prepared to unleash the plague trapped inside the Jewel, but was stopped by a Deadly Shadow ridden by Fishlegs, whom Alvin realized was actually his and Termagent's own son.

Alvin rejected Fishlegs and went to find the Jewel, which had disappeared in the chaos. But the time had come for Alvin to finally pay for his life of treachery. For disobeying the iron laws of single combat, the Guardian Protectors of Tomorrow seized him and carried him up into Airy Oblivion, to disintegrate his flesh. Alvin's last words were to curse Hiccup for his life of misfortune.

Physical Appearance

As of his first appearance, in "How to Be a Pirate", Alvin has lost his hand (taken by the coffin of Grimbeard the Ghastly), and over the course of the books also loses a leg (taken by Sharkworms), his nose (lost in a volcano), one eye, and his hair (digested by the Monstrous Strangulator's stomach juices). He also develops a rash of bumps or warts all over his body. In some books he wears a metal mask to cover his face. Alvin has serpent tattoos all over his head, arms, and shoulders.

"Alvin had quick, clever, laughing eyes. He had a long, elegant mustache, a little limp from the seawater. He smiled a charming, easygoing smile (although a fussy person might think that perhaps it had too many teeth in it)."

―Alvin's first appearance in Book 2

By Book 3 Alvin had lost all his hair and was bald from the aftereffects of the Monstrous Strangulator's digestive fluids. When he is first seen in this Book, he was "wearing a fancy helmet with a gigantic plume and a face guard that covered his eyes."

Alvin falls far outside of the typical Viking mold. He is thin and weak (at least in the early books), using treachery instead of fighting honorably to achieve his ends, preferring to poison and plot. He was considered handsome when he had all his hair. Unlike virtually every other Viking in the Archipelago, he has never had a dragon of his own, as they simply don't like him (with good reason)-Toothless especially.

Personality

In the beginning, Alvin's first instinct is self preservation. In How to Be a Pirate his hatred of Hiccup isn't personal, it is just because he is the Heir of Grimbeard the Ghastly, whose coffin he blames for cutting off his hand. Eventually his hatred of Hiccup for ruining everything becomes stronger than his own and he becomes more evil and less cunning. He has an ability to get out of really nasty scrapes, similar to Hiccup's, actually.

He is also extremely selfish, more so than even Toothless. In the last book his mother tries to get him to think of a kind deed he has done, ANYTHING, but he can only think of the time he let off whipping the slaves for a bit because he was developing blisters on his hand.

He only keeps his word to himself. He is named Treacherous, after all.

He does tend to act a little whiny around his mother, and is a little lazy.

Talents and Skills

Charisma: Alvin is a very charming and charismatic person, at least in the beginning of his involvement in the series. He is able to charm and connive most people, even Hiccup.

"He [Alvin] was a most enjoyable and entertaining companion. He made the women blush by praising their muscles and their fat yellow plaits. He made the men laugh with hilarious farty jokes and impressions of Mogadon the Meathead. He made the children adore him by telling stories of the trickeries and battles of long-dead heroes. Hiccup liked him, too."

―Book 2

Sword-fighting: Alvin is an excellent swordsman, whose skill improves through the Book series. At his first appearance in How to Be a Pirate, he is only mediocre at swordfighting.

"Although I would love to say that Alvin the Treacherous was a brilliant swordfighter, the truth is that he was just so-so at the Art, preferring to poison his enemy's cup or bash him from behind with a rock to fighting him face to face."

―Book 2

Multi-lingual: Alvin knows Latin, possibly from a small family connection to the Roman Empire. He also learns some Dragonese.

Weaknesses

Alvin admits in How to Be a Pirate that dragons do not like him, though they can yield to his will in later books.

"They [Dragons] just DON'T LIKE ME, I don't know what it is."

―Book 2

Indeed Toothless does not like him outright, and defecates in his helmet.

Human Relationships

Alvin is Hiccup's archenemy in the books. He first appeared in How to Be a Pirate. Like most of the Hooligan tribe, Hiccup at first thought very well of him, although he started to doubt him when Toothless said he believed the man to be an Outcast, an accusation later proven true. At first, Alvin simply wanted to kill Hiccup because he had promised himself that he would kill Grimbeard the Ghastly's Heir. When Alvin and Hiccup met again in How to Speak Dragonese, Alvin was really angry at Hiccup and Fishlegs for "abandoning" him in the Caliban Caves, while in reality they though he was dead. After Hiccup foiled him several times, Alvin's grudge against him became far more personal and consumed him almost entirely. By the time Excellinor, his mother, forced him to higher aspirations, Alvin's hatred of Hiccup had grown so great that the boy's death meant more to him than his own freedom or survival. Alvin is one of the few people who has learned not to underestimate Hiccup, and views him as a serious threat.

Alvin hated his mother. She always pushed him and tried at every end to make him the King of the Wilderwest. Excellinor even scolded him every time he messed up such as: when they first met in 20 years and she saw that he wasn't close to being king and had lost many body parts, and when Alvin got in third place in the sword fighting tournament that was hosted at Flashburn's School of Swordfighting to decide who the King of the Wilderwest should be. Alvin showed this hatred after his mother scolded him on Berserk when he murmured angrily toward Hiccup that he let her out, and stated that that was by far the worse thing Hiccup had done to him.

For the majority of the series Alvin doesn't think much about Fishlegs. Alvin just looks down on him. When Fishlegs comes to realization that Alvin is his father in How to Fight a Dragon's Fury, Fishlegs and the Deadly Shadow confront Alvin. Fishlegs says that after fifteen years of looking for his family, he would've never dreamed his father was Alvin. Fishlegs asks Alvin how he could have a father he hates, with Alvin replying that it's perfectly possible, as he has had a mother he's hated for years. Desperately, Fishlegs says that there has to be something positive about Alvin. Fishlegs then proceeds to ask his father is he likes poetry, with Alvin replying that he hates it. Alvin then said that if he had a runt like Fishlegs for a son, he would be the first to place him in a lobster pot and send him out to sea. Fishlegs became Berserk after Alvin states that he has no regrets for abandoning his mother,Termagant. Fishlegs then challenges Alvin to a duel. Alvin taunts Fishlegs and tells him that he will allow him to kill him, but Fishlegs doesn't have it in himself to kill. Alvin then continues to taunt Fishlegs, and tells him that he is not a treacherous. Fishlegs then proceeded to "put him into an imaginary lobster-pot" amd "cast him out as his father."

Alvin never had any personal feelings for Termagant although he ‘romanced’ her, only when Alvin heard news that she had found the coffin of Grimbeard the Ghastly. After Alvin got the things he wanted from the coffin, he abandoned Termagant and her new baby, leaving her a Lobster-Necklace that he found inside the coffin, because he thought it was fit for a slave. Lo and behold that Lobster-Necklace actually held the Dragon Jewel, the mistake that would lead him to his downfall.